Phase 1 Cycle Trail Development: update report
Ollie Graham, Project Manager, Hamsterley Trailblazers
(continued)

Bring on the diggers

There followed an intensive period of training by Pete Laing to ensure the contractors could build the high quality, sustainable cycle trails that are Pete’s hallmark. Wards went on to make good progress with initial roughing out work, mainly thanks to the 7.5 ton diggers they used to remove all the top soil, tree stumps etc.

After this work was completed we had to import crushed sandstone. This came from a quarry within the forest and was 0-125 mm in size and laid at a depth of 200mm. The material was then compacted to form a soil sub-base to ensure long lasting trails.

The start of 'The Loop' skills area

The above picture shows the distribution of the sub-base material and also gives an indication as to the weather we had at the time - bloody cold!!. Unfortunately, towards the middle of February, the weather worsened and in the end the tractors were struggling to bring the sub-base down from the quarry. As you can see from the picture below the weather continued to deteriorate making driving conditions extremely hazardous.

Slip Slidin Away

Continued >>>